New Orleans Serial Killer
New orleans serial killer.jpg|Composite #1 of Suspect new orleans killer1.jpg|Composites #2 and #3 of Suspect Real Name: Unknown Aliases: None known Wanted For: Murder, Attempted Murder, Abduction Missing Since: October 1992 Case Details: The New Orleans Police are searching for an unknown man that is believed to be responsible for at least eight murders throughout the city. He chooses victims that he believes are prostitutes. The first one, seventeen-year-old Danielle Britton, was found on August 4, 1991, covered in trash at an illegal dump site. She lived nearby with her mother. She had been strangled and possibly raped approximately twelve hours earlier. As the investigation began, Detective Elizabeth Wigginton was approached by a neighbor who told her about an attack that had occurred nearby two weeks earlier. This victim, "Brenda," survived but was severely injured by the unknown man. He began following her one night while she was going to a friend's house. He insisted on giving her a ride, but she refused. He then abducted her and took her to the same trash site where Danielle would be found. He tried to strangle her and then left her for dead. She awoke the next morning and described her attacker to police. Danielle briton.jpg|Danielle Britton Charlene price.jpg|Charlene Price new orleans jane doe1.jpg|Jane Doe A third victim, Charlene Price, was found on September 22, 1991, dumped just one mile from where Danielle was found. The fourth victim was found on December 14, 1991; she has never been identified. She was in her early 20s, was 5'2", weighed 125 pounds, and had protruding front teeth. On January 14, 1992, twenty-nine-year-old Lydia Madison was found murdered and was the fifth victim. She was found under the greater New Orleans bridge, very close to police headquarters. Three other victims would later be found dead. The total number was now eight. Seven were found within a three mile radius. The killer strikes once a month, always strangling his victims and always leaving them nude and face down, in or near illegal dump sites. He is described as clean cut, well dressed, and 5'10" with a muscular build. On the night of Danielle's murder, he was seen with her outside of a bar called Neva's Rendezvous. He was driving a blue Regal or Monte Carlo. He has never been identified. Extra Notes: This case first aired on the October 21, 1992 episode. victor gant1.jpg|Victor Gant russell ellwood1.jpg|Russell Ellwood Results: Unresolved. From 1992 to 1995, at least eighteen more women have been killed in the New Orleans area. Local police and the FBI suspect that they may have also been victims of the same killer. Victor Gant, a New Orleans police officer, is suspected in the 1995 murders of Karen Ivester and Sharon Robinson, who were believed to have been murdered on the same night by the same killer. A shoe-print tread next to Karen's body matched Sharon's shoe. Sharon was Gant's ex-girlfriend and she previously claimed that he had abused her. He has never been charged and some believe that investigators may have covered up his involvement because he was a fellow officer. However, in 1998, another suspect named Russell Ellwood was arrested for the murders of Cheryl Lewis and Delores Mack, two of the suspected victims who were found murdered in February 1993. He was later charged with second-degree murder and is suspected in a total of eight murders. In the past, he had made several statements alluding to the fact that he had murdered prostitutes. While in jail on unrelated charges, he described in graphic detail how he drugged and choked prostitutes before dragging their naked bodies away. He later confessed to an investigator that he had taken a black female and "placed" her in the water. Ellwood's ex-girlfriend testified that he had taken her to two of his victims' bodies. He also was found hanging around the area that Cheryl's body was found a year prior. He reportedly had been seen with her several times prior to her murder. However, investigators later discovered that he was in Ohio at the time of Delores's murder, so the charges in that case were dropped. In 1999, he was convicted of Cheryl's murder and sentenced to life in prison. Gant remains a suspect in several of the murders, but he has not been charged. As of 2016, investigators have been working on testing evidence at the crime scenes for DNA. Investigators also believe that another suspect in the murders may still be out there who has never been identified. Links: * 24 New Orleans Deaths Linked to Serial Killer * Cop eyed as New Orleans serial killer * Officer is Suspect in Killings in New Orleans * Officer May Be Linked to 2 of 24 Serial Killings * Officer a suspect in New Orleans deaths * Police now the 'usual suspects' in New Orleans * Dial 911 and speak to the prime suspect * Cabbie is charged in killings; suspect booked in two of 26 similar murders * Serial killer or taxi driving loser? * State vs. Ellwood (2001) * Detective Tries To Solve 25-Year-Old Serial Killer Cold Case * Russell Ellwood on Murderpedia ---- Category:Louisiana Category:1991 Category:1992 Category:Murder Category:Attempted Murder Category:Serial Killer Category:Unresolved Category:Police-Involved Cases